The Latest

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Here's a look at the different types of programming in 2016-17. This
post will combine the broad programming categories (originals, repeats,
sports, specials, movies) as well as the sub-categories within the
original series realm (comedies, dramas, reality, news).Big Four Category Ratings

Year

Overall

Originals

Repeats

Specials

Movies

Sports

2001-02

98

100

81

92

76

157

2002-03

93

100

75

86

64

135

2003-04

94

100

75

93

66

159

2004-05

94

100

69

85

63

159

2005-06

92

100

65

81

54

146

2006-07

91

100

60

92

52

136

2007-08

90

100

55

84

54

152

2008-09

93

100

53

92

52

162

2009-10

96

100

50

108

47

196

2010-11

93

100

51

98

47

199

2011-12

97

100

50

101

45

223

2012-13

98

100

49

104

47

229

2013-14

103

100

47

113

49

250

2014-15

102

100

47

118

50

254

2015-16

108

100

51

116

52

270

2016-17

116

100

56

137

62

307

The league average decline was so brutal in 2016-17 that literally every other category had a huge jump relative to the original average... even things like repeats and movies!

Big Four Category Real Estate

Year

Originals

Repeats

Specials

Movies

Sports

2001-02

58%

13%

6%

14%

8%

2002-03

62%

14%

5%

13%

6%

2003-04

61%

19%

4%

11%

5%

2004-05

63%

20%

5%

8%

5%

2005-06

62%

20%

3%

8%

7%

2006-07

63%

23%

3%

5%

6%

2007-08

61%

23%

3%

5%

7%

2008-09

65%

19%

6%

4%

6%

2009-10

62%

22%

4%

4%

8%

2010-11

64%

21%

4%

4%

6%

2011-12

66%

20%

4%

2%

7%

2012-13

64%

21%

6%

2%

8%

2013-14

62%

20%

6%

2%

9%

2014-15

66%

18%

6%

3%

8%

2015-16

66%

17%

6%

2%

9%

2016-17

65%

16%

6%

3%

10%

But this isn't to suggest that repeats are making a comeback; in fact, for the third year in a row, they were down to their lowest levels since 2002-03. I maintain this is part of the reason why the repeat average has had a bit of a comeback; only the good ones are surviving. As always, it's worth keeping in mind that repeats were only so low at the beginning of the era because movies were so viable. The "repeats+movies" average was still stuck at one of its lowest totals of the era.

Another interesting note here is that sports ticked into double digits for the first time in the entire era. With Winter Olympics on tap next year, there is no sign of that trend ending.

Big Four Original Sub-Category Ratings

Year

Comedy

Drama

Reality

News

2001-02

121

104

98

72

2002-03

116

97

127

66

2003-04

101

96

141

66

2004-05

82

113

116

61

2005-06

77

111

120

60

2006-07

84

107

119

58

2007-08

98

101

111

61

2008-09

101

100

116

62

2009-10

101

99

116

61

2010-11

110

94

121

61

2011-12

117

94

114

59

2012-13

103

94

120

65

2013-14

101

94

118

71

2014-15

107

95

119

70

2015-16

100

96

117

77

2016-17

108

91

123

79

2016-17 saw another significant swing from drama back toward comedy, with big expansions on the two strongest comedy networks (ABC/CBS). Though American Idol went out of the mix, Fox mostly just replaced it with scripted stuff, and very healthy seasons from most of the staples meant the average for the remaining reality staples was also on the upswing. It's not a huge departure from where it's been for the last 10 years, but the 123 reality average was still the highest since 2003-04.

Big Four Original Sub-Category Real Estate

Year

Comedy

Drama

Reality

News

2001-02

21%

44%

14%

21%

2002-03

19%

42%

19%

20%

2003-04

21%

41%

19%

20%

2004-05

16%

41%

26%

17%

2005-06

16%

45%

23%

15%

2006-07

11%

48%

26%

15%

2007-08

9%

40%

38%

12%

2008-09

11%

49%

28%

12%

2009-10

13%

45%

30%

12%

2010-11

14%

43%

30%

13%

2011-12

16%

41%

30%

12%

2012-13

19%

40%

29%

12%

2013-14

20%

44%

27%

9%

2014-15

15%

50%

24%

11%

2015-16

15%

51%

24%

10%

2016-17

17%

51%

21%

10%

As mentioned on the Networks post, Fox's departure from reality programming has been staggering, and it is most of the reason why the reality real estate fell to its lowest level since the very early years of Idol. And the aforementioned ABC/CBS comedy expansions saw a couple points go into that total. Overall, this adds up to an unprecedented imbalance between scripted and unscripted programming; after many years of about a 60% scripted/40% unscripted mix, we are now getting closer to 70/30.